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There are those individuals for whom all superlatives are inadequate. Sir Garfield Sobers (1936-2026) was one of those rare individuals. When the good Lord picked a mound of Barbados soil and breathed life into it, he said, “Thy name is Garfield Sobers. Go and play cricket and bring joy to cricket lovers.” Gary Sobers did just that in a career spanning nearly two decades.

He was as Don Bradman had said a five-in-one cricketer. He was completely left-handed: an outstanding batsman; he began as a spin bowler, orthodox left arm and wrist spin; he later became a quick bowler who was nippy with a deceptive bouncer; and he was a great fieldsman anywhere. He excelled in all these various departments of cricket. No other cricketer has done this before or since.

He was a great favourite of the Don. During the 1971 Australia vs Rest of the World series Down Under, Sobers was initially getting out often to the young and fiery Dennis Lillee. Before the test match at Melbourne, Bradman told him, “Gary, give me something to remember’’. Sobers went out to devastate Lillee and the entire Australian attack with an innings of 254 which Bradman thought was the best he had seen in........

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